On 2013-10-18 22:10, tobunga wrote:Just spent a pleasant evening enjoying this incredible documentary and the slideshow on the website (with accompanying mai tais) ... so informative and moving!

It would be great if this could be screened at an event like Tiki Oasis, such a wealth of information that can be dispersed among the tiki people!

That would probably be fun, but I'm guessing that by the time the next Tiki Oasis rolls around, everyone who wants to see it will have done so. However, I'm not opposed to it if there is still interest.

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On 2013-10-16 20:31, bigbrotiki wrote:The things I love about this video are that it gives Tiki a human face by showing how it related to the lives of an American family. Also that it talks about the early early Tiki revival activities of us few nerds out there. But most of all that it makes the aspect of urban archeology comprehensible. Very few of the Tiki docus out there have touched on that, and the fact that this kind of intelligence gathering was the basis for all the partying and drinking that ensued since then.

Colin, I really dig the slideshow below, your folks must have felt like the coolest kids on the block back then

Thanks Sven! Actually, the women in the yellow sweater is my dads sister. This is my mom and dad back in the day:

I was hoping to get my aunt to talk about it but she simply doesn't recall much and/or is not happy to discuss it.

Bravo, bravo!!! I am so happy you took the time to do such a wonderful job on this film. Like "the Tikis", the Kapu Kai is just one of those places that I have been mesmerized by and curious about even though I never had the chance to experience it in person.

A few questions, do you have any idea why your Father was reluctant to speak about the Kapu Kai as you were growing up? You also mentioned your Aunt was also no happy to speak about it. What do you think the reasons would be for this? Maybe the flood was just too painful to talk about?
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On 2013-10-30 22:43, Chub wrote: A few questions, do you have any idea why your Father was reluctant to speak about the Kapu Kai as you were growing up? You also mentioned your Aunt was also no happy to speak about it. What do you think the reasons would be for this? Maybe the flood was just too painful to talk about?

They are not the only ones involved that want to 'forget' it ever happened. I discovered the children of (one) of my dad's partners and his surviving wife. After some correspondence, they felt it was too painful to dredge up old memories. The lost their home as well, but being older than my parents, I'm sure it was more financially difficult to recover. It truly was a life altering event for our respective families, something that must be difficult to describe today if you didn't live through it.

I altered this postcard to add a reference to Roller City, a local hangout in the 70's.
I took a walk with my mom to the Kapu-Kai after the flood destroyed it, you could see
inside the bowling alley, mud everywhere. What a shame it was torn down. Such
beautiful architecture!

Colin,
Glad this thread re-surfaced. I had not seen the documentary. Very nice job. I'm curious to know if your family had a background in restaurant management or an association with the hotels in Hawaii before coming to California and opening the Kapu-Kai. Do you know what inspired such a grand vision and their ability to turn it into reality?
Mahalo.
_________________Where do you get those Hawaiian thing-a-ma-jigs? You know, those hula do-dads.

On 2014-05-14 22:36, Kailuageoff wrote:Colin,
Glad this thread re-surfaced. I had not seen the documentary. Very nice job. I'm curious to know if your family had a background in restaurant management or an association with the hotels in Hawaii before coming to California and opening the Kapu-Kai. Do you know what inspired such a grand vision and their ability to turn it into reality?
Mahalo.

Not really, my Dad had managed bowling alleys both in HI and in LA. I guess when they bought the Kai, he had sufficient experience to run it. Note, my dad and partners did not create it, they bought it after it was already up.